Tag: UFC on FOX 8

Is it a coincidence that the UFC debuted the Phantom Cam around the same time that they announced the addition of the “pointless” flyweight division? Probably, but we’ll be damned if it isn’t the greatest technological achievement this side of the Blood-Bath Mat. The fact that the PhanCam actually allows us full-sized adults to watch a flyweight fight without having a seizure is just icing on the blood cake.

Slow motion makes everything better, plain and simple. Ask The Discovery Channel. Ask the end of this video. Ask Dave freakin’ Chapelle. And as such, the recently-released Phantom Cam footage from UFC on FOX 8: Johnson vs. Moraga somehow elevates the already FOTN-worthy brawl between Ed Herman and Trevor Smith (among others) to previously unimaginable levels of awesome. So enjoy, then invest in one of those blood towels to scare the shit out of your house guests. Seriously. Do it. I promise you that I won’t see a penny from it.

(Robbie’s body may have been in the Octagon at that moment, but in his mind, he was already making it rain at Little Darlings. / Photo via Getty Images)

According to figures released by the Washington State Department of Licensing, the UFC paid out $1,050,000 in disclosed salaries and bonuses to the 24 fighters who competed at UFC on FOX 8: Johnson vs. Moraga on Saturday, led by main card slugger Robbie Lawler, who took in $156,000 including his win bonus and Knockout of the Night bonus. Three other fighters broke into six-figure territory thanks to their end-of-night bonuses, including Melvin Guillard, Ed Herman, and flyweight headliner Demetrious Johnson.

Check out the full salary list below, courtesy of MMAJunkie. Keep in mind that the figures don’t include additional revenue from sponsorships or undisclosed “locker room bonuses.”

The flyweight division doesn’t serve a purpose in the UFC — at least not a good purpose.

Now, do us both a favor and read the whole article before you go to the comments.

The oft-mentioned casual fan — you know, the kind of person who’s decked out in TapouT gear, plays UFC Personal Trainer, and thinks “MMA” is an acronym for some kind of governmental organization and not a sport — doesn’t care about the UFC’s flyweight division and never has. This fact hasn’t been more brutally apparent than it is now.

The event wasn’t a success in terms of TV viewership either. Despite winning the night in the 18-49 year old demographic, their numbers with that demographic were down 40% since the last FOX event. The FOX portion of the card was viewed by an average of 2.04 million viewers. To put that into perspective, more people watched a rerun of Cops that aired on FOX the previous Saturday in the same time slot than were watching LIVE UFC ACTION!!! Not only did “Johnson vs. Moraga” draw the fewest viewers of any UFC on FOX event, it was the lowest-rated MMA event ever on network television.

The numbers don’t lie. Flyweight is the Ryan Leaf of the UFC’s weight classes. So why not get rid of it?

In any case, Belfort’s wife/manager, Joana Prado, recently spoke on his behalf, telling Combate that the Kennedy matchup “didn’t make sense.” Which in today’sMMA landscape, means “give him a week to come around.”

It doesn’t make sense that Vitor, who is No. 1 in the rankings, should fight against No. 2, No. 6 or No. 10 in his weight class. His next fight in the middleweight class will be against the winner of Chris Weidman vs. Anderson Silva. If the UFC wishes him to fight in any class above middleweight, we are at their disposal. It can be anyone, Tim Kennedy, even Roy Nelson, but it has to be at 205 pounds or heavyweight – he’ll even fight as a heavyweight. Vitor wants to fight, but in his weight class, only if for the belt.

As oddly as that was worded, we kind of understand Belfort’s logic here.

UFC on FOX 8 not only provided a number of awesome moments from some unexpected heroes, but it also saw a few fighters who were expected to do big things disappoint in a big way. In the first of a new post-event column only on CagePotato.com, here are three fighters who surprised us at UFC on FOX 8 and three fighters who let us down.

Surprises

Demetrious Johnson: Many expected UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson to successfully defend his title against John Moraga in the main event of UFC on FOX 8, but I don’t think anyone predicted him to win the fight via armbar with just one minute and 17 seconds left in the fight.

But that’s exactly what Johnson did as he earned his first stoppage victory in eight UFC fights, en route to shutting up the critics who called him boring and said he didn’t have what it takes to finish a tough guy like Moraga.

Johnson had all four rounds in his pocket and was ahead in the fifth, but instead of coasting to a win he tried desperately to get the finish and put an exclamation point on his performance, and that’s exactly what he did with his first submission win in the Octagon, a victory that earned him the $50,000 “Submission of the Night” award.

“Mighty Mouse” is always going to have his detractors because of his wrestling-heavy style, and I think his finish of Moraga is a bit of an anomaly, but on Saturday night he deserved all the praise in the world for a brilliant performance, one that has truly earned him his spot amongst the pound-for-pound best fighters in MMA. And hopefully, it’s just a sign of things to come.

Melvin Guillard: It had been over two years since Melvin Guillard last stopped an opponent inside the Octagon, but with his brutal second-round KO of Mac Danzig on the UFC on FOX 8 preliminary card, it’s safe to say that “The Young Assassin” is back.

Flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson delivered another exciting, winning performance last night in the main event of UFC on Fox 8. The champ defended his title successfully with a fifth round arm bar submission win over challenger John Moraga.

Long before the submission, however, it looked like Johnson was going to walk away with a clear-cut victory. The Washington resident used his footwork, take downs, ground striking and submission attempts to put on a show for his home town crowd in Seattle Saturday night. Johnson took the two-time All-American wrestler Moraga down at will and worked him over with choke and arm bar attempts before finally securing the fight-ending hold in the last round.

For his part, Moraga never appeared to break or give in. He simply was no match for the champion.

Post fight, Johnson said that, while he is satisfied to continue to defend his 125 pound belt, he is open to doing “super fights” with champions of heavier divisions. “[A superfight] is just something to throw out there,” Johnson said at the post-event press conference. “I’m still focused on my weight division. I know there’s up-and-coming fighters who are trying to come up and take what’s mine, and I’ll be there to defend it for the fans.”

“I think everybody is focused on Anderson Silva, ‘GSP’ and all those guys,” Johnson continued. “But I think we can make some fun super fights down in a lighter-weight division with the flyweights fighting the bantamweights. I know the bantamweights have some things to work out, and then we’ll see what happens. I’m just here to fight and have a good time and put on a good performance for the UFC and the fans.”

Rory MacDonald and Jake Ellenberger’s war of tweets came to a relatively muted climax in the co-main event. MacDonald used masterful foot work, angles and a stiff, precise jab to out-point Ellenberger and win a decision. Scores were 30-27 (twice) and 29-28 for MacDonald.

MacDonald managed to stay elusive while stalking Ellenberger for much of the fight. Ellenberger swang hard in spurts with his hooks behind a peek-a-boo posture, but mostly whiffed. Late in the third round, Ellenberger was finally able to catch Rory with a big shot and take down but the young Canadian immediately switched to offense from his back, threatening to get up with butterfly guards and with triangle choke and oma-plata shoulder lock attempts, before taking his opponent’s back at the final horn.

The main card for UFC on FOX 8: Johnson vs. Moraga kicks off at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT, and our man George Shunick will be hooking us up with round-by-round results, after the jump. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and toss your own thoughts, predictions, and one-liners into the comments section. Thanks for being here.

The 24 fighters competing on tomorrow night’s UFC on FOX 8: Johnson vs. Moraga card will be hitting the scales this evening at Seattle’s Key Arena, beginning at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT. You can watch the action* live in the player above, and we’ll update the results (along with any relevant GIFs) after the jump. [Update:Three fighters missed weight, most notably lightweight Tim Means, who whiffed by five pounds. Details below.]

* So to speak. I mean, really, it’ll just be a bunch of guys weighing themselves and posing at each other.

If Michael Bisping or the UFC’s marketing department would have their way, none of us MMA fans would dare speak a word of the UFC’s tiniest and most criticized division from this day forth. We’re talking, of course, about those little flyweights.

Yes, despite putting on consistently entertaining performances, the UFC’s flyweight division has come under fire since the day of its inception for being “unmarketable” and lacking a distinctive amount of banging, bro. And with the all but completely overlooked title fight between Demetrious Johnson and John Moraga going down on FOX this weekend, we decided to send staff writer and NOLA resident Seth Falvo into the fiery bowels of the infamous Bourbon Street to get some predictions and also ask: Does anyone really care about flyweights?

As you would expect, the only people Seth was able to wrangle in were either street performers, gypsies, guys in chicken suits, or sign holders for gay strip clubs. As you would also expect, most of them were forced to drunkenly yell over the sounds of carnival music in order to be heard, hence the need for subtitles. Tis a silly place, New Orleans.

Check out the mostly inaudible video above, then make sure to tune in to UFC on FOX 8: Johnson vs. Moraga tomorrow to see if these flyweights can *finally* live up to all that hype they’re getting.

- Andrade has a record of 9-2 (all wins by stoppage), competing mostly in Brazil. She won both of her fights this year, submitting Milana Dudieva and Luciana dos Passos Pereira. Andrade’s last loss came against Invicta FC vet Jennifer Maia at a Samurai FC event in December.